Optical navigation systems detect relative movements between the optical navigation systems and navigation surfaces to perform tracking operations. An optical navigation system uses a light source to generate illumination light on a navigation surface and an image sensor to successively capture frames of image data of the navigation surface using reflected illumination light. The optical navigation system compares the successive frames of image data and estimates the relative movements between the optical navigation system and the navigation surface based on the comparison between the current frame of image data and a previous frame of image data. The optical navigation system is able to track the relative movements between the optical navigation system and the navigation surface by continuously capturing and comparing frames of image data. Optical navigation systems are commonly used in optical computer mice to track the movements of the mice relative to the navigation surfaces on which the mice are manually manipulated.
Recently, there is a growing interest in using optical navigation systems to perform tracking operations, which have traditionally used encoders. As an example, optical navigation systems can be used in mobile robotic devices to optically track the movements of the mobile robotic devices. As another example, optical navigation systems can be used in printers to optically track the movements of sheets of paper. Unlike encoders, optical navigation systems do not have moving components that can breakdown and cause the optical navigation systems to malfunction. Furthermore, optical navigation systems do not suffer from erroneous readings due to slippage between the optical navigation systems and the navigation surface. However, conventional optical navigation systems do not perform uniformly on different surfaces, and thus, have accuracy issues when used on different surfaces.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for performing an optical tracking operation with accuracy.